Assessment orders

Graphs

Admissions to temporary assessment orders, Queensland, 2012-13 to 2016-17

Year	All children
2006-07	716
2007-08	1407
2008-09	1612
2009-10	1223
2010-11	1198

Admissions to court assessment orders, Queensland, 2012-13 to 2016-17

Year	All children
2006-07	1537
2007-08	1551
2008-09	1709
2009-10	1232
2010-11	1106

Tables

Description	Annual	Quarterly
AO.1: Admissions to assessment orders, by type of order and region, Queensland	Excel (XLSX, 13 KB)	Excel (XLSX, 19 KB) Excel (CSV, 3 KB)

What are assessment orders?

Assessment orders authorise actions during the investigation and assessment process where the consent of the parents has not been able to be obtained.

There are two types of assessment orders:

• Temporary Assessment Orders (TAO) - if parents will not consent to the actions necessary to complete an investigation and assessment a TAO can be sought directly from a magistrate. TAOs can authorise a number of actions including the authority to temporarily take a child into the custody of the chief executive (Director-General) of the department, however, guardianship remains with the child's parents. A TAO remains in effect for three days from midnight on the date it was decided and can only be extended once, for one business day, if the magistrate is satisfied that application will be made for a court assessment order or a child protection order.
• Court Assessment Order (CAO) - the department must apply to the court for a CAO when a parent will not consent to the actions required to complete an investigation. CAOs provide the authority for a number of actions that allow for the completion of an investigation including temporarily taking a child into the custody of the chief executive (Director-General) of the department, when it has been determined that more than three business days will be needed to complete the investigation and assessment. Guardianship remains with the child's parents. CAOs are granted for a maximum of 28 days, however the Child Protection Act 1999 allows for one extension of a further 28 days.

Why this topic is important

A thorough investigation and assessment is critical in determining whether a child is in need of protection.

The department's response to all notifications is to conduct an investigation and assessment. When this cannot occur with parental consent, assessment orders enable the department to proceed.

Trends

During 2016-17, there were 1,952 admissions to assessment orders, comprising 968 admissions to TAOs and 984 admissions to CAOs. This is an increase of 28.7 per cent since 2015-16 where there were 1,517 admissions to assessment orders, comprising 777 admissions to TAOs and 740 admissions to CAOs.